Draft 13 May 2005.
The series of speakers touring Australia which began with Andrew Wilkie’s meeting in Trades Hall last year has been organised under the aegis of the Victorian Peace Network.
At this point tours have included Andrew Wilkie, Tariq Ali, Zico Tamela (a South African Communist and trade unionist), and firm programs are in place for Tariq Ali again, Aleida Guevara and Nancy Fraser. Planned tours by Shulamit Aloni and Naomi Klein have had to be postponed.
The Victorian Peace Network is an umbrella organisation that coordinates anti-war activity of a very diverse range of political groups and social movements in Victoria and maintains active links with its opposite numbers in other states.
In reality however, the tours have proceeded with the active participation of a very small group of people acting on behalf of the VPN, with support on specific projects from others plus the support of various interstate networks and collaborators. The list of organisations which have participated at some level in organising specific tours so far is very long and includes social movements, trade unions and labour councils, professional associations, politicians, publishing companies, writers’ festivals, academic departments and institutions, and charitable organisations across all mainland states.
All those who have participated so far understand that they benefit from a joint program in which high-profile, authoritative figures from overseas, with something to say to more than one sector of the broad social justice community, visit Australia to speak in a variety of settings to a variety of audiences. Many have already agreed to contribute towards building up a bank account capable of underwriting such a program into the future.
Although speaking a diversity of “political languages” and adhering to different ideals, affiliates of the VPN do share a broader agenda in favour of social justice. It is very likely that “Global Justice” is a banner which would be acceptable to all VPN officers and affiliates. The VPN has specifically decided that it should promote deeper collaboration and understanding between its affiliates with the long term objective of creating the basis for a broad “movement of movements” or “counter-hegemonic bloc of social justice movements.”
The series of speaking tours are designed as a first step towards this goal, and it has been suggested that the name “Global Justice Tours” be used for this project.
It is absolutely essential that the speakers and the way the tours are managed is so chosen that all the affiliates, particularly the politically broader groups like the Victorian Council of Churches, VCOSS, Trades Hall and Rural Australians for Refugees, receive benefits from the tours and retain an identification with the program.
The tours have to be partially self-funding, but in each case funding can be sought from specific constituencies relevant to each speaker. Each program will include a mixture of large town hall public meetings, academic symposiums, seminars and lectures, meetings with smaller groups in rural townships and private dinners with invited guests, where possible picking up events like the various writers’ festivals and relevant academic conferences. Tours should wherever possible visit regional centres and in the case of local writers regional tours should be the principal focus.
Thus, the tours will simultaneously create a focus of public attention which will help social justice groups strengthen their ties with their own community, and at the same time create a successful organisational program in which very different groups can work together and build mutual trust and understanding. The proposed “private dinners” will give the speakers the opportunity to lead in-depth dialogue across ideological divides.
We currently stand at the threshold of achieving a critical mass with this project, where sufficient funding could be obtained from official and semi-official sources to make it possible to fly almost anyone anytime to speak in one or more Australian city and cover costs. There can be a snowball effect here which could in turn create a kind of norm or model if not an actual pole of attraction for such tours.
Under these conditions it is absolutely vital that the ownership of the program and the political location of the speakers be situated, at least for the next few months, so as to secure the support of the broadest grouping. The list of sponsors of the tours and supporting affiliates, etc., has to be kept as long as it possibly can.
The VPN symbol (a graphic white dove on a blue background) is a fairly universal symbol of peace and social justice. The VPN itself is just an umbrella organisation that lays claim only to a coordinating role; it has no infrastructure, funds or staff and very little public profile. It is to be hoped that over time this symbol can come to represent a new public space where a commitment to critical thought and social justice is fostered and a certain generosity associated with the way these tours are organised.
Every tour has to be closely managed by one participating organisation. But with a different participant taking the lead each time, all will benefit. Across the country, we can spread the cost of bringing out speakers, and all benefit from the increased “specific weight.”
We need to know whether you are prepared to (1) put your name or that of your organisation to this project and (2) agree in principle to the idea of 50% of any profit from a visit accruing to a bank account underwriting further tours.